Carondelet Cave pics

Urban exploration in St. Louis, Missouri
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PANIC! on the Titanic
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Carondelet Cave pics

Post by PANIC! on the Titanic »

Found some neat pictures of the cave from the STL parks commissioner reports of 1899 - 1900. Unfortunately this entrance has since been buried, and the spring that came out of it is now entombed in a sewer that drains it into River Des Peres. Note the Lyle Mansion in the background.

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Re: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by mindwaave »

Neato research!
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Re: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by Whitepanther »

Nice find Panic! MSD is the greatest. Just ask em.
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RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by Bigspike »

Great find, how amazing that must have been back then. Cliff Cave Park in south county has a cave (now closed entirely unless there is another entrance I haven't found) and the park has some old photos posted near the parking lot of rich people dressed up dining in front of the cave in the 1800s when the area was a winery.
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RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by BradfordR »

It almost feels magical seeing the photos created that long ago. What an interesting piece of history.
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Re: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by Exploreandadore »

Well since you can't get in this cave anymore, does anyone know of any caves that you'd be able to get into that aren't touristy like Meramec Caverns and Bonne Terre Mine? :D
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Re: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by PANIC! on the Titanic »

Exploreandadore wrote:Well since you can't get in this cave anymore, does anyone know of any caves that you'd be able to get into that aren't touristy like Meramec Caverns and Bonne Terre Mine? :D
Well we got 7,300 - 9 show caves in Missouri to choose from. Phelps, Pulaski, Perry, Crawford, Green and Ste Genevieve counties are your hot spots in the state
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Re: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by Headframe Hunters »

They're not caves, but I know of more than a few underground limestone mines in Missouri that are easily accessed :wink:

Whereabouts are you located?
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RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by Exploreandadore »

I'm located southern St.Louis area, but go down to Festus quite often as well...Just was looking for some caves that were decently easy to access and/or some cool abandoned places. More new to the whole urban exploration thing, even tho I've always been fascinated by it!
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RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by PANIC! on the Titanic »

South of StL there's Greensfelder park up by 6 Flags, and in the park is Mud Cave which is open to the public. 300' long, half of it is easy half not so much. You can get into caving fairly easily by joining a local grotto. In Stl, you'd be interested in MVG. Grottos are a bit squirrely about newcomers and keep tight lips on cave locations, so I don't particularly care for grottos, having found independent caving to be quite rewarding. But, it's an easy way for someone new to caving to get their feet muddy.
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RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by Exploreandadore »

Ok, well thank you so much! :)
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Re: RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by Nicotti »

PANIC! on the Titanic wrote:Grottos are a bit squirrely about newcomers and keep tight lips on cave locations...
You mean they're like the Urbex community? We all just want our good explores to stay pristine and keep the taggers and people that break stuff away.
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.

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Re: RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by Nicotti »

Exploreandadore wrote:I'm located southern St.Louis area, but go down to Festus quite often as well...Just was looking for some caves that were decently easy to access and/or some cool abandoned places. More new to the whole urban exploration thing, even tho I've always been fascinated by it!
Some basic caving safety tips:

Make sure to cave with a partner or group, just in case you have a problem. Take backup lights and make sure someone not going with you knows where you are.
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.

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“That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”
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Re: RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by BagHead727 »

Exploreandadore wrote:I'm located southern St.Louis area, but go down to Festus quite often as well...Just was looking for some caves that were decently easy to access and/or some cool abandoned places. More new to the whole urban exploration thing, even tho I've always been fascinated by it!
There are several caves in and around Meramec State Park (not show caves) that are worth the short drive. We typically don't just give out cave locations, but some of them are easy to look up.

I can hook you up with some good mines in the Festus area. Some of them require a lot of hiking, but luckily it's perfect hiking weather.

Read through these threads:
http://www.undergroundozarks.com/forum/ ... highlight=

http://www.undergroundozarks.com/forum/ ... ht=#150511

Also: https://goo.gl/maps/DTTcFkdLWz32
Last edited by BagHead727 on Mon Oct 01, 2018 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: RE: Carondelet Cave pics

Post by PANIC! on the Titanic »

Nicotti wrote: You mean they're like the Urbex community? We all just want our good explores to stay pristine and keep the taggers and people that break stuff away.
Now listen here you little shit...

I totally understand their motivations, yes I do. Where they lose me is wanting to go crazy gating anything and everything, and advocating blanket closures of caves. Obviously not every grotto is like this. This makes them the sole purveyors of access and can be incredibly discouraging to new cavers like our new friend here, who probably has no interest in being a shithead, just following a sense of curiosity and adventure (which I fully support). Wanna go into that large hole in the bluff on your float trip? Too bad, it's gated and unauthorized entry is a fineable offense. I call BS. How about vandalism and trashing the place is a fineable offense but satisfying your curiosity is okay? I better stop here. /rant
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